Teufelsburg (Switzerland)

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Devil's Castle
Floor plan from 1869. [1]

Floor plan from 1869.

Alternative name (s): Tüfelsburg
Creation time : 10/11 century
Castle type : Erdburg
Conservation status: Earthwork visible
Standing position : Count
Geographical location 47 ° 8 '50.7 "  N , 7 ° 25' 35.8"  O Coordinates: 47 ° 8 '50.7 "  N , 7 ° 25' 35.8"  E ; CH1903:  599 088  /  221826
Height: 549  m
Teufelsburg (Canton of Bern)
Devil's Castle

The Devil's Castle was a highly medieval Mottenburg in Rütiwald on the territory of the municipality Rüti bei Büren in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Moats and ramparts are still preserved from the complex. It was probably a former seat of the Counts of Buchegg and was bought by the city of Solothurn as a castle stables in 1391 . The name of the castle could go back to Theobald or Diebold / Tiebold , although no known historical persons of the 10th or 11th century can be linked to these first names.

Location and facility

The Erdburg is located in the Rütiwald on a south-facing slope edge on the right side of the Leibach, which rises further east in the Rütiwald and flows into the Rütibach west of the castle site. As the crow flies, today's course of the Aare is just over two kilometers away. Settlement in the area goes back to pre-Roman times. Along the Aare through the town of Rüti near Büren, the Romans laid the main road through the Swiss plateau from the Vicus Petinesca ( Studen ) to Solothurn.

Teufelsburg, section through the earthworks.

The facility is surrounded by seven ramparts that are three to five meters high. The castle hill has a height of 15 meters and is leveled at the top. The resulting circular area measures 13 meters in diameter. Together with the earthwork, the system measures 150 meters in diameter. On the castle hill, the Motte, a wooden castle will have stood, as is shown several times on the Bayeux Tapestry from the second half of the 11th century. The walls were probably additionally reinforced with palisades.

history

The Teufelsburg came to the city of Solothurn as a castle stable in 1391, so it was already in ruins at the time. The seller was Elisabeth (III.) Von Buchegg (adult 1365–1410 / 1418), daughter of Burkhard II. Senn von Münsingen, Baron von Buchegg (adult 1337–1365) and of Countess Agnes von Baden-Hachberg († around 1405 ). During the Burgdorf War of 1383/1384, their Buchegg Castle, ancestral seat of their ancestors, was burned by the Counts of Neu-Kyburg . Her husband Henmann von Bechburg (adult from 1371) died on July 9, 1386 in the battle of Sempach . The widowed Elisabeth moved her residence to Solothurn, and so in 1391 she sold her father's inheritance to this town: the Bucheggberg estate with the Buchegg castle stables, the Balmegg rulership ( Balm bei Messen ) and the Teufelsburg castle stables.

literature

  • Thomas Bitterli-Waldvogel: Castle map of Switzerland - West . Object description and detailed maps. Ed .: Swiss Castle Association. Federal Office for Topography swisstopo, Wabern 2007, ISBN 978-3-302-09801-2 , p. 42 .
  • Ferdinand Keller: Helvetic monuments . In: Communications from the Antiquarian Society in Zurich . Volume XVI, Section II, Volume 3. S. Höhr, Zurich 1869, Teufelsburg bei Rüti, Cant. Bern , S. 85–86 (33–34) ( Google Books [accessed on December 22, 2010] attempts to explain the system and its possible purposes, the origin of the name and dating considerations out of date).

Web links

Commons : Teufelsburg (Switzerland)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Illustration adapted from Keller 1869: Plate VII.
  2. ↑ a b Bitterli-Waldvogel 2007: Castle Map of Switzerland - West , p. 42.